Shanxi province's carbon reduction incentive mechanism platform – the Shanxi Green Life applet – has become a great way to encourage local residents to participate in carbon emission reduction efforts and practice an eco-friendly lifestyle since it was put into use in September. 

The carbon reduction incentive mechanism was established to reward energy-saving and carbon reduction behaviors of residents as well as small and micro-sized enterprises.

According to research by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, carbon emissions on the consumer side, which includes industrial processes and the daily lives of residents, account for 53 percent of total carbon emissions, hence the importance of reducing them.

In April this year, the Shanxi Department of Ecology and Environment and Shanxi Department of Finance jointly issued a circular to encourage the development of data collection and carbon reduction incentive platforms focusing on transportation, shopping, catering, energy conservation, and tourism, as well as provide consumption preferences, exchange products and services for the public's low-carbon behavior.

Users can obtain corresponding carbon emission reduction and green point incentives for low-carbon activities, such as riding shared bicycles, driving new energy vehicles, eliminating disposable tableware, reducing food waste, and recycling old items, through the Shanxi Green Life applet. 

Every user's emission reduction records accumulated through participation in different low-carbon activities can earn them personal emission reduction certificates. 

Sun Dongjie, co-founder of Green Inclusive Internet Technology Co, said that in about two months, nine enterprises used the applet and encouraged more than 1.2 more people to lead a low-carbon life. 

As of Dec 1, more than 1.3 million people recorded over 24.70 million carbon emission reduction activities through the platform, reducing carbon emissions by more than 16,000 metric tons. 

The spokesman of the Shanxi Department of Ecology and Environment said that the applet will help local residents develop green and low-carbon habits, and the preference for personal low-carbon behavior will directly affect the transformation of enterprise production.

In the future, Shanxi will seek to attract more enterprises, institutions and the public to participate in the construction of the province's carbon reduction incentive mechanism, promoting a simple, green and low-carbon lifestyle.